Maj: Indeed it is. You will be training with our elite troops, of course. After the evacuation of the civilians in Pyrrhus, many of the instructors from our academies went too. We have brought them here to keep our troops in shape and to continue the training of our current students. By survival, there will be live fire exercises occasionally. These consist of stationary and aerial bots in sets to ensure that our future troops are prepared for various different situations.

He turns to me.

Maj: Corporal, several of your instructors are here also. These Vektans will be learning from them. I advise that you make sure they cooperate or there may be severe consequences.

I nod but I don't really want to execute them. They saved my life. Major Tatnell turns back to the ISA group.

Maj: I have ordered quarters for the three of you. At the moment, you will be staying in the same room without any of our troops. This is so you will not be attacked. Later on, we will move you to quarters in the academy's barracks where you will share rooms with other students. You have no say in this. Private Krul here will take you to them. Dismissed.

The private opens the door and waits outside for the ISA. I start to get up to leave but the major holds me back.

Maj: You are expected to have a report on their performance every week. Your quarters are opposite theirs. Dismissed.

They should be following the old schedule for new recruits so I'm thinking 0500 tomorrow. You better get as much sleep as possible because the instructors really hate it if you're late. Trust me, you do NOT want to find out. I think it's time to go to the mess hall. There shouldn't be that many troops in there since they usually eat half an hour after now. I'll check on Meijer first and put in an order for a new helmet before meeting you guys at the hall, k?

I step out into the hallway and retrace my steps until I find a scarily uniform map of the headquarters. It was electronic which helped. The Medical Facility was located on B4. I stepped into the elevator which had a couple of Helghast in it. One was a student without a helmet who seemed to be studying intensely out of a text book; the other was carrying some documents, not very interesting. They both got off at B2. Elevator music was playing but thankfully it was Helghan Forever otherwise I would've punched in the speaker.

The doors opened into a very clean and orderly corridor. I stepped into a small room for disinfection before I could continue. Some Helghast were lying in beds or doing hospital stuff. A receptionist gave me the number of Meijer's room: 504. After a bit of wandering, I finally reach the door and go in. He was lying unconscious in the bed with several bandages (including one covering half his face), some monitors hooked up to him, and a packet of blood. I walk up to him and brush aside a stray strand of hair (thanks to the medics who did not care at all since most of us are bald) which causes him to wake up. His voice was kinda croaky.

Meijer: So... we're... alive?

Me: Yep, we're in the HQ now, thanks to you. Major Tatnell hasn't said much about what you'll be doing. I have to make reports on how the Vektans do in Helghast training.

Him: Heh, sounds like fun.

Me: So how are you feeling?

Him: Like shit. They gave me morphine but I can barely move.

Me: I reckon you'll be staying here for a week or so.

Him: Great...

Me: I have to go but I'll check on you again tonight and tomorrow, okay?

Him: Okay, but bring me something that actually tastes like food...

Me: Gotcha, I'll see you later.

I leave and take a trip up to B2 and head into Armoury & Equipment. After retrieving my newer, cleaner weapons, I put in an order for a new helmet and go back up to B1 to the mess hall. When I reach the door, I already get the feeling that something was wrong. The first thing I see is an overturned table plus several chairs. Then there's the five elite Helghast students standing in a way suggesting they were surrounding someone. They were, it were the four Vektans I had brought along. The one who looked like the leader of the gang was holding a knife.

I watched them fight for a bit but it was a clear loss. The four Vektans had no weapons whatsoever. Something was in my equipment belt which wasn't there before. It was a little nifty device. The gadget could identify who a Helghast was from short-medium range. New tech. I think Major Tatnell sneaked it in. No idea why. There weren't a lot of complicated buttons to it. It identified the one with the pistol was Fletcher. This was going to be interesting.

Being a graduate, I got to be the boss of all of them. Yay Still, I pulled out my pistol too.

Me: Fletcher! Lower your weapon. Now.

He looks over.

Him: You're the one who brought them in. I'd think you have personal feelings for them. Not a full Helghast anymore!

Me: I'm responsible for them by the Major's orders. Stand down.

I walk up to them.

Him: I don't think so.

Me: I'll report you right now to Major Tatnell, then. Plus the instructors.

He hesitates and holsters his pistol.

Me: That's what I thought. Get out of here.

They leave and drag their unconscious buddy with them. Students think they're tough until they actually meet the graduates...

No problem, Tuyen. You should get used to it. The students around here are rough, especially the elites. They know they're top of the academy and they will NOT go easy on you.

I look at Tosh who was groaning on the ground.

Just so you know, the instructors will kick your arse if you perform sexual harassment. And trust me, it is not pretty. Come on, let's go eat. I'm hungry and I haven't ate for a long time. I need to bring Meijer something too...

I head over to the counter and grab a tray. Hm, I don't know. I haven't been here before, you know. They only tell the squad leaders where the HQ is in case something happens. It can't be worse than what they served at camp.

There were various types of food on the large bowls and plates. I could see a plate full of chunks of that dried fish they gave us for rations sometimes. A bowl had stew, another contained a vegetable mush, a plate with slices of bread, a bowl of boiled eggs, an assortment of fruit, and something else that was preserved in syrup. It looked a lot better than what I've usually seen. I guess some of the workers here were a bit picky and I knew the instructors definitely were even though they tolerated military food. They just hated eating that stuff when they were in a civilised society.

I put some of the preserved mystery item, stew, bread, and a spoonful of vegetable mush. It sounds like a lot but I didn't get that much for each. Stuffing myself was a bad idea.

I eye Luna's pile of food. Wow, she must not get overweight easily to eat that much...

More Helghast start trickling in. The most interesting group sat at one of the larger tables. No one else sat there. Just them. That's because they were instructors. No one could sit at the same table as they do unless invited. I recognized them from when I was still at Radec Academy. Some of them were even the ones I trained under. If this was what they'll be taking, then the four Vektans will have a tough time for sure.

Hey, Tuyen. You see those seven sitting over there? Those are going to be your instructors and trust me, you do not want to mess with them on a bad day...

Philips heard the Vektan tap his should and ask him about a secret. His friend sitting across from him on the table frowned and gave a subtle shake of his head. The one on his left had a disgusted look. No, none of them liked Vektans at all. They were still students but with a thirst for blood. Graduation meant going into the ranks to fight for their homeworld. Then they could finally get to shoot some real ISA. Now some fag was sneaking into the academy and thought this was going to be easy for him.

Not really surprising she would go for seconds... And thirds, maybe fourths.Somehow, no matter how much she eats, she never ever gets fat. Tosh made a theory that all the fat goes to her breasts.

One time, he said that in public and disappeared for three days. We then found him in a cardboard box, with a whole bunch of scratches and bruises. He still tries to crack that joke, even though he was stuck inside a box for 3 days.

The student shrugged off Tosh's response and went back to eating. One of them caught my eye for a moment before turning back to his dinner. They didn't know why I was with the Vektans, only the major and instructors did. I finished up my meal and went back to get a slice of bread with butter for Meijer. Some of the ingredients in the food here were hard to come by these days but somehow this place managed to obtain them. I returned to the table.

I'll be going back down to Meijer's room now. I think you should rest and take a shower soon. It's been a long day and you have to wake up tomorrow for training. Shower rooms are further down the hall from our rooms. Men on the right, women on the left. No sneaking into the other side, 'kay?

Last edited by Lady_Scout on Sun Nov 07, 2010 1:03 am; edited 1 time in total

Tosh, there's some female cadets around here too. It would be embarrassing if you got your arse kicked by one of them in the shower rooms. Anyway, I'm outta here.

I take the elevator back down to B4 with the bread hidden under my cloak. Meijer didn't look any different from before. It would probably take a couple of weeks before they release him from the medical facility. I tap on the door to catch his attention. He had been watching some news on the screen on the wall across from him. Reports were saying our forces had retreated back to the plains and the northern areas. That wasn't too far from here.

Tosh, Josh, Luna and I head for the showers. Luna heads for the female showers. The showers weren't different from the ISA showers. I'm betting like the ISA, the female showers here are probably cleaner. Just as soon as Tosh, Josh, and I undress and get into the showers, Tosh says something:

Tosh: Hey, want to sneak into the girls' showers?

Josh: Uhh.... No thanks. This will be like the many other times at ISA command, where we get the crap beat out of each other by girls.

I notice the other Helghast in there. Apparently they already bonded after a bit of girl chat. I doubt the boys did as well so far.

Looks like everyone's friends already. Anyone in class 22?

Someone in the showers, IDK: Yeah!

Two of the Helghast here were. Luna's going to be there tomorrow. Take care of her, you know how some of the guys around here are.

They giggle a little. The girliness gave nothing away. All of us were like this. It hid our skill on the battlefield very well and not many knew how good we really are. We were as tough as any of the guys even though we weren't buff as hell. That's when a certain pervert came in.